MUSE Community + Design
Our Client
Muse Community + Design partners with communities to create equitable, inclusive spaces through participatory planning and design that center people and place.
Our Approach
Working hand-in-hand with MUSE’s in-house designers, we brought their creative ideas to life online. Together, we developed a web system grounded in their visual identity, featuring a typeface created by a local Chicago foundry and adaptable UI components that make building new pages both easy and consistent.
Scope
_ Design System
_ Website Design
_ WordPress Dev
Featuring Locally Sourced Fonts
We had the opportunity to source a typeface for their website that was locally produced in Chicago, the very community where the firm is based and actively engaged. This choice helped reinforce MUSE’s commitment to local culture, craft, and community connection, while giving the site a distinctive and authentic voice.
Unique Colors for Unique Projects
One feature the MUSE design team was especially excited about is the ability to select custom colors on project detail pages. This flexibility allows each project to feel unique, reflecting its distinct identity while still staying within the overall design system.
Project Summary
MUSE Community + Design approached Made by We with an exciting challenge: a major conference was just around the corner, and they wanted to showcase their latest work on a new website at the event. With a tight timeline, we partnered closely with their team to deliver a site that was fully prepared for the conference and reflected the studio’s personality, philosophy, and commitment to community-focused design.
Our process began with presenting mockups of key pages and components in a moodboard-style format. This allowed us to quickly establish the overall visual direction and gather feedback efficiently. From there, we expanded the design into a comprehensive set of over 200 web components. During a focused 48-hour design sprint, we collaborated with MUSE’s Senior Associate to fine-tune and finalize these components, ensuring every element, from typography to spacing, was aligned and ready for development.
A visit to MUSE’s Chicago office inspired several playful touches throughout the site. These included a “Pacman” loader animation referencing wall art in their space and the use of a webfont designed by a local type foundry, adding a sense of locality and personality. MUSE’s in-house design team provided all the image assets and populated the project pages, ensuring the site would be an accurate and vibrant representation of their work.
The final website launched on schedule, giving MUSE a platform that not only looked polished and professional but also fully embodied their creative, community-driven approach. By combining careful planning, rapid iteration, and playful, thoughtful design touches, we delivered a website that supported the firm's mission, highlighted their latest projects, and made a strong impression at the conference.
More of what we've made
Check out some of our other recent collaborations.
